Rookie Ruston Impressing In K&N East

Kenzie Ruston currently sits third in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings. (NASCAR Photo)

Kenzie Ruston currently sits third in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings. (NASCAR Photo)

PENSACOLA, Fla. – That Brett Moffitt and Dylan Kwasniewski sit 1-2 in championship points two races into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season is not exactly a surprise. Moffitt has been in contention for the last two East titles and Kwasniewski is coming off a West championship.

But the driver in third place, Kenzie Ruston, is a surprise, even to herself. Not the success, per se, but that it’s come so quickly for the 21-year-old from El Reno, Okla., who is coming off a history-making finish.

“We’re definitely here to run for the championship,” said Ruston, who is nine points behind Moffitt and one ahead of Greenville race winner Brandon Gdovic. “And we really have high hopes to be there at the end of the year – to be a championship contender and rookie of the year contender.

“I’m very, very shocked, I guess, because I didn’t think it would come this early.”

Ruston and the rest of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East are headed to Florida this weekend for the inaugural NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola. Saturday night’s race will be the series’ first visit to the banked, half-mile asphalt oval.

Ruston became the highest finishing female in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East history with her third-place finish last Saturday. She eclipsed the mark set by Danica Patrick with her sixth-place run at Dover in 2010.

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